LOGINBack in my room, I shut the door and turned the lock, which felt impossibly loud in the quiet house. I crossed my room on shaky legs and slid under the covers even though I knew there was zero chance Iâd actually sleep. The sheets were still warm from earlier, but pulling them to my chin couldn't shield me from the fear still settling in my chest as I stared up at the ceiling.My mind wouldnât stop spinning.I thought Noah and I were actually close. Sure, I knew there was still some distance between us, but I figured weâd gotten close enough for him to tell me certain thingsâespecially stuff that directly involved me.It was disappointing that he hid something like that from me.I curled onto my side and wrapped the hoodie tighter, catching a faint scent still on the fabric. Closing my eyes, I tried to slow my breathing, but every tiny creak from the house made my heart leap out of my chest.Sleep never came, but I didn't expect it to. After what just happened, Iâd have to be crazy to
A panicked scream tore out of me, so loud that it shattered the silence of the house. I scrambled backward until my back hit the headboard, my hands clutching the sheets like they could somehow shield me. The bedroom door flew open a second later. Noah burst in, barefoot and shirtless, eyes wild and a gun already in his hand like heâd grabbed it on pure instinct. His gaze swept the room once, then landed on the figure kneeling beside my bed. âWhat the fuck!â he barked. Then he saw Kai. His face twisted into something between disbelief and pure fury. âYouâve got to be fucking kidding me,â he growled. In two strides he was across the room, grabbed Kai by the back of his shirt and hauled him up like he weighed nothing, dragging him away from my bed. Kai stumbled, still half-conscious and bleeding through his bandages, but Noah didnât care. He shoved him toward the door with enough force that Kai nearly fell. âWhy the fuck didnât you lock your door?â Noah snapped at me over his sh
Noah kicked open the door to one of the rarely used guest rooms downstairs and laid Kai down on the bed with a grunt. The mattress creaked under the weight, and fresh blood immediately started soaking into the sheets. I didnât wait for instructions and immediately turned and ran back outside, my shoes slipping slightly on the blood-smeared floor. In haste, I sprinted to the car, yanking open the back door and grabbing the plastic bags Iâd thrown in earlier. My hands were still shaking, but I managed to pull out the first aid supplies Iâd bought on impulse at the convenience store. Then rushed back inside, the bags crinkling in my grip, and froze in the doorway of the guest room.Noah was already working.Heâd torn open what was left of the old first aid kit and was pressing gauze against a deep gash on Kaiâs side, his movements quick and practiced even as he cursed under his breath. Blood was everywhere â on his hands, on his shirt, on the bed. Kaiâs breathing was shallow and uneven
His face was swollen and bruised, one eye already turning purple, blood trickling from a split lip and a gash across his forehead. His clothes were ripped in places, and there were dark stains spreading across his shirt that I didnât want to look at too closely. He looked like heâd been beaten within an inch of his life.âKai?â I whispered, my hands hovering over him, not sure where to touch without hurting him more. âOh my God⊠whatâ what happened to you?âHe groaned, his eyes fluttering open just a sliver. Even in the setting sun I could see the pain etched across his face.âSaraphinaâŠâ he rasped, his voice barely more than a whisper. âPlease helpâŠâI scrambled back to the car, yanked open the passenger door, and grabbed my phone from the cup holder with shaking hands. My thumb hovered over the emergency number for half a second before I stopped.I couldnât call the police.Involving the cops would only make things worse â for him, for me, for everyone. Noah would be pissed. Hell, h
My phone dinged.The sound cut through the fog in my head and jolted me out of my daze. I stared at the screen for a long moment before finally picking it up. Noah: Grab me a pack of Marlboro Reds before you come back? The ones with the gold filter. I stared at the message, my face a complete mask of indifference. Then sighed, and dropped the phone into the cup holder. Thinking about why Kai had done this to me was probably the same as asking a snake why it bit you. Pointless. Dangerous, even. Snakes didnât need a reason. They just did what snakes do. And right now, I didnât have the energy to keep trying to understand the mind of someone who had clearly been manipulating me from the start. It would be best not to think about it anymore. I started the car. The engine hummed to life, and I forced my hands to loosen their death grip on the wheel. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the convenience store a few blocks away from campus â the one Iâd passed a hundred ti
âKai is the one responsible for all this?ââWell, heâs the only one thatâs glued to you always,â Sarah continued. âAnd nothing seemed to have happened to him. So everybody just assumedâŠâShe didnât get to finish.âHey, Sarah!âThe voice sliced right through the cafeteria noise. I looked up to see Emma, the tall one with braids, stomping toward our table. Her face was set in a tight, angry mask.âAre you nuts?â Emma snapped, grabbing Sarah by the wrist. âWhat the hell are you doing with her?âSarah barely had time to react before Emma was dragging her up from the chair, her sandwich and drink forgotten on the table.âEmma, waitââ Sarah started, but her friend wasnât listening.I just sat there, frozen, my water bottle still clutched in my hand as I watched them.Sarah twisted slightly in Emmaâs grip, looking back at me over her shoulder as she was pulled away. Her eyes were wide, conflicted, like she wanted to say more but knew she couldnât.âAre you not in a relationship with him or s







